Load divider



22, 1967 c. R. JOHNSTON 3,336,880

LOAD DIVIDER Filed July 19, 1965 I 5 Sheets-Sheet l I; I I In. r 2% j 16 15 1c,

, INVENTOR.

C/MR L Es R/Cfl/IRD OH/VS TON Aug. 22, 1967 c. R. JOHNSTON LOAD DIVIDER' 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 19, 1965 1/145 firm/ 514 Aug. 22, 6 c. R. JOHNSTON LOAD DIVIDER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 19, 1965 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent Ofiice 3,336,880 Patented Aug. 22, 1967 3,336,880 LOAD DIVIDER Charles Richard Johnston, 80 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Ill. 60604 Filed July 19, 1965, Ser. No. 472,928 4 Claims. (Cl. 105-376) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A load divider having a carriage mounted for movement over supporting rails extending through a freight hauling vehicle, with the carriage supporting a trolley -member adapted to move throughout the entire length of the carriage as said carriage is moved over the rail members. The trolley member supports a hanger arm, one end of which is pivotally connected to the trolley member and rotatable through 360 from a position beneath the trolley member and said carriage to either side thereof. The opposite end of the hanger arm has connected thereto in fixed relation a load divider whereby the same is pivoted with the hanger and movable with the trolley member and carriage throughout the length of a freight carrying vehicle. The load divider includes locking pins for connecting the divider to the carriage independently of the rails or connecting the divider to the carriage and the rails, as required.

a vehicle as well as an arrangement of parts wherein each of the doors may be swung into a position in facial abutment with respect to either of the side walls of the vehicle.

A further object of this invention is to provide in a load divider of this character an arrangement of parts wherein the doors are arranged to be suspended in a transverse attitude from a lengthwise movable carriage rotatably supported on tracks hung from the ceiling of the vehicle.

A still further object of this invention is to provide in a load divider of this character a means whereby each of the lading doors may be pivotally suspended by a trolley member movably carried by a carriage and further characterized by having a means whereby each of the doors provides a locking means which locks the door to the carriage for lengthwise movement there- With as well as selectively locking the door and carriage in a selected position within the vehicle.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will "be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings showing the preferred form of construction, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view showing a double door load divider within afreight vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing the method of suspending the double doors for movement within the freight vehicle;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of one of the double doors showing indotted lines certain structural arrangements thereof;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational View of the lock ing fulcrum;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary detail sectional view of a corner construction for the lading door;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view showing the movable connection between the carriage and the longitudinally extending tracks which support the lading door within the vehicle;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary detail sectional view of the trolley member as employed in this invention;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the trolley member;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the trolley member.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a double door load divider embodied in a freight vehicle 10", including side walls 11 and 12, a roof 13 and a floor structure 14. The floor structure 14 is provided with floor rack lading supports 15 disposed on either side of keeper members 16 which extend lengthwise of the vehicle.

The roof 13 is provided with a ceiling 17 which includes a center keeper member 18 disposed in vertical alignment with the keeper member 16, supported by the floor 14.

The ceiling 17 comprises a plurality of roof trusses 19, which in turn support parallelly extending tracks 20 which are disposed adjacent the corners between the roof 13 and side walls 11 and 12.

The tracks 20 in turn movably support the rollers 21 of a carriage 22. The carriage 22 in turn movably supports a trolley member 23.

As shown in FIG. 8 the carriage 22 is hollow and has a rectangular cross section which is slotted as at 24 along its bottom surface.

As seen in FIG. 7, the roof truss 19 supports the track members 20 which are substantially U-shaped. The U- shaped track 20 is connected to the roof truss 19 by means of rivets 25 or the like, and as such disposes one leg 26 thereof in a horizontal plane. This leg 26 of the track 20 provides a substantially flat horizontally disposed portion which provides a series of horizontally aligned apertures 27 which are adapted to receive one end of a locking pin 28. The roller 21 is supported by a connected to the top wall surface 31 of the carriage 22.

By this arrangement the track 20 as well as the roller 21 is disposed above and inwardly of the end edge of the carriage 22.

As seen in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, the trolley member 23 comprises a rectangularly shaped body 32 which carries adjacent each corner thereof, wheels 33 adapted to ride on the oppositely extending parallelly disposed bottom flange 34 of the bottom wall portion of the carriage 22. The main body 32 of the trolley 23 provides a depending bushing 35 through which extends a pivot pin 36. This pivot pin 36 supports a laterally extending arm 37. The arm 37 is provided with a center offset portion 38 so that the free end portion 39 thereof lies in a lower horizontal plane than that defined by the flanges 34 of the carriage 22. By means of suitable connections such as bolts 40, the load divider door 41 is connected to the trolley member 23, so that its vertical plane is normally forward of that of the carriage 22 when the load divider door is in the position shown in FIG. 1.

The load divider door 41 as shown in FIG. 3, consists of a hollow core structure which provides inner support beams 42 to which the front and rear walls of the door are fastened. The door also provides a structural support 43 which extends across'the bottom edge of the door as well as a top structural support 44, extending 3 across the top thereof. This structural support at each corner provides an interiorly disposed gusset 45 having a circular opening 46 formed therein. To the top wall 47 of the door 41 there is provided a mounting bracket 48 which supports a hollow guide sleeve 49 which protrudes through an opening 50' formed in the top wall 47 and which is disposed in horizontal alignment with the opening 46 formed in the gusset 45. Through this opening 45 and sleeve 49 slidably projects the locking pin 28.

The locking pin 28 is connected to an actuating mechanism 51 which includes a linkage arrangement comprising an end link 52, a bifurcated pivot link 53 and an actuating link 54.

Referring to FIG. 4 the linkage arrangement 51 is shown as being disposed within the hollow core of the door 41 and as such provides a substantially U-shaped mounting bracket 55 connected to one of the vertical supports 42 of the door. This bracket 55 by a pivot pin 56 supports the bifurcated pivot link 53 intermediate the ends thereof. This pivot link 53 extends through an opening 57 for-med in the end structural support 42 of the door and has its free end, by a pivot pin 58, connected to the corresponding end 59 of the end link 52. The opposite end of the pivot link 53- by a pivot pin 60 is connected to the corresponding end 61 of the actuating link 54. The actuating link 54 is in turn connected to a circular rotor 62 carried at the end of an actuating rod 63 which extends transversely to the longitudinal length of the lading door 41, as seen in FIG. 3. The actuating rod 63 is connected to a handle 64 adapted to be rotated through a semi-circular path extending perpendicular to the face of the door 41.

It should be noted that at each of the corners of the door 41 there is a similar latch pin 28 which is operatively connected to the rotatable actuating rod 63 so that upon movement of the handle 64 all of the latch pins 28 will be moved into or out of a latching position with respect to the keeper members 16 and 18 provided by the floor 14 and ceiling 17 respectively.

In operation, the latch handle 64 may be raised through a 90 are so as to dislodge each of the latch pins 28 from engagement with their corresponding keeper means. This permits the lading door, as well as the carriage '22, to be manually moved longitudinally through the freight vehicle to any desired position. Upon a further 90 rotation of the latch handle 64, the latch pins 28 at the upper end of the lading door 41 will be disengaged from the carriage 22 and the door will then be permitted to be pivoted about a vertical axis relative to the trolley 23. The trolley 23 may be then moved through the carriage 22 so as to dispose the lading door in flush facial abutment with the inner surface of the side wall of the vehicle. In this position opposite movement of the latch handle 64 will cause the latch pins 28 to be projected into the keeper members provided by the floor and the tracks 20 so as to lock the door in such a position. As the offset arm 37 of the trolley member 23 pivots relative to the carriage 22, it is readily seen that the lading door 41 can be positioned beneath the tracks 20 into facial abutment with the side walls or in the event that the load divider is moved to either end of the vehicle, the door may be placed in fiush facial abutment with the end walls thereof.

While I have described a double door load divider, the same general construction and arrangement of parts would pertain to a single door load divider without departing from the inventive concept disclosed herein.

It should also be noted that the linkage connection between the latch pins 65 which are located at the bottom edge of the door 41 adjacent each side edge thereof is of such a length that upon actuation of the latch handle 64, they will be caused to be disengaged from their respective keeper members 16 before the latch pins 28 at the upper edge of the door 41 are fully withdrawn from the keeper member 18, carriage 22, and tracks 20.

By this arrangement, the different latching operations hereinbefore described are achieved.

Also as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings, the door 41 is provided with a longitudinally extending opening 66 in which is located the latch handle 64. By this arrangement, the latch handle 64 is available to an operator from either side of the door 41 irrespective of its position relative to the side walls or end walls of the vehicle.

The keeper members 16 and 18, as well as the tracks 20 are provided throughout their longitudinal length with a series of vertically aligned openings which receive the ends of the latch pins 28 and 65 so as to releasably lock the door 41 in a selected position within the vehicle.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of the construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A load divider for a freight carrying vehicle having a floor and opposite side walls,

(a) rail members carried by and extending longitudinally of the vehicle adjacent the uppermost edges of said side walls, with the rail members having apertures formed therein throughout their longitudinal length,

(b) an open bottom hollow carriage of a length to extend between and beneath said rail members,

(c) mounting brackets on top of and inwardly of the opposite ends of said carriage and above said rail members,

(d) rotatable supporting rollers carried by said brackets in a position above said carriage and upon said rail members for movement of said carriage longitudinally thereover throughout said vehicle,

(e) a wheeled trolley mounted in said hollow carriage and movable longitudinally therethrough,

(f) a Z-shaped hanger arm having one end pivotally connected to said trolley and rotatable through 360 from a position beneath said trolley and said carriage to a position to either side thereof,

(g) a load divider fixedly supported on the other end of said hanger arm and movable and rotatable therewith relative to said carriage and said side walls of the vehicle,

(h) a locking strip carried by said vehicle and above said carriage between and in horizontal alignment with said rails and having apertures formed therein throughout its longitudinal length,

(i) locking pins movably carried by said divider at each corner thereof and movable in a direction of their longitudinal length into and out of locking engagement with said rails and said locking strip,

(j) said carriage having like apertures formed in either end and at the center thereof and adapted to be positioned in vertical alignment with the apertures formed in said rails and said strip and through which said pins project into locking engagement with either said carriage and said rails and strip,

(-k) and means for manually moving said pins from locking engagement with said rails and strips and said carriage so that said carriage and said divider carried thereby may be selectively moved through said vehicle as an integral structure and for moving said pins from engagement with said carriage so that said divider may be rotated with said hanger arm through 360 relative to said trolley and the side walls of said vehicle.

2. A load divider as defined by claim 1 wherein said hanger arm is pivotally connected to said trolley at a point to one side of a center line extending transverse to the length of said trolley.

3. A load divider as defined by claim 1 wherein there are a pair of trolleys carried by said carriage with said trolleys pivotally carrying like hanger arms for rotatably supporting a pair of load dividers for movement throughout the length of said carriage to and away from either side wall of the vehicle and movable with said carriage over said rail members throughout the longitudinal length of said vehicle.

4. A load divider as defined by claim 3 wherein said hanger arm is pivotally connected to said trolley at a point to one side of a center line extending transverse to the length of said trolley.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Wells et a1. 105-376 X Loomis et a1. 105- 376 Palsson 105- 376 Knippel et a]. o 105-37 6 Erickson et a1. 105-376 Magarian et a1 105.-376

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

DRAYTON E. HOFFMAN, Assistant'Examiner. 

1. A LOAD DIVIDER FOR A FREIGHT CARRYING VEHICLE HAVING A FLOOR AND OPPOSITE SIDE WALLS, (A) RAIL MEMBERS CARRIED BY AND EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE VEHICLE ADJACENT THE UPPERMOST EDGES OF SAID SIDE WALLS, WITH THE RAIL MEMBERS HAVING APERTURES FORMED THEREIN THROUGHOUT THEIR LONGITUDINAL LENGTH, (B) AN OPEN BOTTOM HOLLOW CARRIAGE OF A LENGTH TO EXTEND BETWEEN AND BENEATH SAID RAIL MEMBERS, (C) MOUNTING BRACKETS ON TOP OF SAID INWARDLY OF THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID CARRIAGE AND ABOVE SAID RAIL MEMBERS, (D) ROTATABLE SUPPORTING ROLLERS CARRIED BY SAID BRACKETS IN A POSITION ABOVE SAID CARRIAGE AND UPON SAID RAIL MEMBERS FOR MOVEMENT OF SAID CARRIAGE LONGITUDINALLY THEREOVER THROUGHOUT SAID VEHICLE, (E) A WHEELED TROLLEY MOUNTED IN SAID HOLLOW CARRIAGE AND MOVABLE LONGITUDINALLY THERETHROUGH, (F) A Z-SHAPED HANGER ARM HAVING ONE END PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID TROLLEY AND ROTATABLE THROUGH 360* FROM A POSITION BENEATH SAID TROLLEY AND SAID CARRIAGE TO A POSITION TO EITHER SIDE THEREOF, (G) A LOAD DIVIDER FIXEDLY SUPPORTED ON THE OTHER END OF SAID HANGER ARM AND MOVABLE AND ROTATABLE THEREWITH RELATIVE TO SAID CARRIAGE AND SAID SIDE WALLS OF THE VEHICLE, (H) A LOCKING STRIP CARRIED BY SAID VEHICLE AND ABOVE SAID CARRIAGE BETWEEN AND IN HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT WITH SAID RAILS AND HAVING APERTURES FORMED THEREIN THROUGHOUT ITS LONGITUDINAL LENGTH, (I) LOCKING PIN MOVABLY CARRIED BY SAID DIVIDER AT EACH CORNER THEREOF AND MOVABLE IN A DIRECTION OF THEIR LONGITUDINAL LENGTH INTO AND OUT OF LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID RAILS AND SAID LOCKING STRIP, (J) SAID CARRIAGE HAVING LIKE APERTURES FORMED IN EITHER END AND AT THE CENTER THEREOF AND ADAPTED TO BE POSITIONED IN VERTICAL ALIGNMENT STRIP AND THROUGH WHICH FORMED IN SAID RAILS AND SAID STRIP AND THROUGH WHICH SAID PINS PROJECT INTO LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH EITHER SAID CARRIAGE AND SAID RAILS AND STRIP, (K) AND MEANS FOR MANUALLY MOVING SAID PINS FROM LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID RAILS AND STRIPS AND SAID CARRIAGE SO THAT SAID CARRIAGE AND SAID DIVIDER CARRIED THEREBY MAY BE SELECTIVELY MOVED THROUGH SAID VEHICLE AS AN INTEGRAL STRUCTURE AND FOR MOVING SAID PINS FROM ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID CARRIAGE SO THE SAID DIVIDER MAY BE ROTATED WITH SAID HANGER ARM THROUGH 360* RELATIVE TO SAID TROLLEY AND THE SIDE WALLS OF SAID VEHICLE. 